This year, I have been taking classes for my G/T certifications. One of the classes focused on SKLD's -- smart kids with learning differences, also known as "twice exceptional." As I read more about adapting instruction and accommodating those learners, I realize that a lot of the so-called accommodations are really, just good instructional practices.

This lesson is a good example of my attempt to try to incorporate opportunities for student choice and extension (by having students choose their questions), but also allowing for the scaffolding to be built into the lesson as a central component (through having students choose three out of nine questions to answer.)

As a teacher, it is really hard to find the right balance of accommodating student differences and not having floating standards. The question that I have to ask myself regularly is "What is the focus of this lesson?" Though I try to make lessons with a lot of layers, it's a good habit to remind myself that everything is not equally important. I think every lesson has something in it that cannot be missed. If I can accomplish that objective through adapting the lesson, then I should make that attempt.

Adaptations for SKLD

Diverse Entry Points: Adaptations for SKLD

Discussion Tic Tac Toe

Discussion Tic Tac Toe

Unit 16: A Separate Peace
Lesson 6 of 8

Objective: SWBAT work through ideas about the novel by prepping for, and engaging in, a discussion with their peers.

When the students came into class, I gave each of them a tic tac toe board with questions in each of the squares. The assignment was for students to select three in a row to answer completely.

The students took a few minutes to decide on their questions, complained about the lack of a "free space," and then got to work. I had purposely put the question that asked them to compare Gene and Finny in the middle of the board, so that we would have many people weighing in on that one.

The only real challenge of this part of the activity was that I had many students who had read far ahead (this book is absolutely the most popular one that I teach all year.) So, the question about whether or not Gene meant to jounce the limb can evoke really different responses, based on whether or not you have read ahead. Since the activity is designed to be done after reading page 60, I was hoping that there would be a little more debate about Gene's intentions.

Resources (2)

Resources

After the students completed their three required squares, we went through all of the questions and discussed them, one by one. This took a while (thirty minutes is a minimum), and the students took notes and added to their responses.

This is not a particularly exciting part of the lesson or unit; however, I think it is really important to reinforce the reading requirements (while many read ahead, some always struggle to meet the minimums,) and to clear up any misreading or misunderstandings about the text.

One thing that some students are confused about is Gene's state of mind. They don't really understand how he becomes so convinced of Finny's ulterior motives, so quickly. Part of that is the book -- it doesn't really give you the information that you need to evaluate Gene's reliability as a narrator -- and the other reason is that my students don't really understand the culture of a boarding school like Devon (based on Phillips-Exeter Academy, where Knowles went to school.) A visit to the website, or reading the essay "There Really Was a Super Suicide Society," can help them get a better idea.